


The Buildings of England

by mydogwatson



Series: The Postcard Tales [13]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Johnlock - Freeform, M/M, Sherlock's life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:52:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5117810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydogwatson/pseuds/mydogwatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A review of the places Sherlock lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Buildings of England

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, let's be honest: when this title came out of the pile, I did not jump up and down with joy. But, in the end, I think I made something of it. And if anyone makes it past the title, I hope you will think so as well. Let me know, please!

1

The house was far too large for a family of four. It was also drafty, often damp, and never entirely inhabitable. But it had been in the family for almost 300 years and so there they were. When he was ten and extremely bored, Sherlock used his school break to do some research on the place. He was vastly amused to discover that the property had come into the possession of the Holmes family not through some act of heroism in one of the many conflicts of the day, as the legend went, but because the king’s mistress demanded a home suitable for her station. Because cleverness always did run in the bloodline, she made sure the deed was firmly in her lovely hands when the monarch died. But it was a miserable place to grow up. The only times Sherlock ever felt genuinely cosy was when he was huddled under a pile of quilts with Redbeard.

Both Sherlock and Mycroft were rather indignant that as soon as both of them had left home for uni, Mummy and Daddy donated the pile to the National Trust and bought a tidy, well-heated bungalow.

2

He had objected vociferously, but to no avail. Mummy and Daddy insisted it would be good for him to live in student accommodation. It would, they felt, help him develop the social skills that had so far escaped his notice. Mycroft sympathised with him, but was too amused by the whole thing to help. So he was condemned to spend his time in a box-like sterile room and share a bathroom with the occupant of connecting box. For a very brief period, Sherlock had hoped that the other student would prove interesting. His name was Victor and he was clever. During the first fortnight of the term, they moved back and forth fairly easily and chatted about the idiocy of the other students and most of the lecturers. But then it turned out that Victor was mostly interested in getting Sherlock into bed and, when Sherlock demurred, the usual sort of insults, familiar from prep school, were again used.

Sherlock hated the room and often spent his nights in the chemistry lab.

 

3

The room he occupied was on the third floor of what had once been a fine Georgian house situated not far from Hyde Park. Sadly, it had long since fallen on hard times and by now was entirely occupied by squatters who paid rent not to any actual owner, but to a hulking thug with a large knife and an even larger dog. No one wanted to be late when he came round to collect on the first of every month. No matter what they had to do to raise the funds. Sherlock lived in a tiny room tucked next to the communal loo. It smelled of cheap tobacco, expensive drugs, piss and despair. There was no real furniture, just a ripped and filthy mattress in one corner and a cardboard box with the few of his possessions that he had not already sold or that others had not stolen. Sometimes as he lay curled on the mattress coming down from a high, Sherlock wished that his life could be different. But the rent would soon be due again and his dealer would no longer extend credit. So he did what he had to do. It was called survival.

He would never forget the look on his brother’s face the day Mycroft finally came to drag him out of the room, before escorting him personally to rehab. It was a look composed equally of disgust, anger, sadness, and disdain. It was the disdain that Sherlock remembered most.

4

He fell in love with the flat the moment he saw it. Even though it was too expensive. The location was perfect and the kitchen would make a lovely laboratory. Mrs Hudson was giving him a break on the price, but it was still more than he could currently afford. Because he loved the place, he agreed to move in anyway. She suggested a flatmate to help with the cost; after all, there was a second bedroom. Sherlock gave that suggestion the consideration it deserved and started hauling stuff in immediately. Mrs Hudson stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched with a bit of trepidation as she saw box after box of lab equipment, books, and other things she could not name going in. It was when she saw the skull that she retreated into her own flat and closed the door firmly. Mycroft came by and sneered at the somewhat shabby décor, but Sherlock ignored him. This was going to suit him nicely.

As it happened, the very next day he met John Watson and the affordable, cosy flat was suddenly a home. Sherlock could not explain why the presence of another person made such a difference, but it did.

5

The pre-war cottage was set on the edge of a pleasant Sussex village and there was a large back garden that would be perfect for the bees he wanted to have. John thought that the little patch just outside the rear door would suit nicely for the kitchen garden he wanted to plant. The house itself was small, but still ample for two aging adventurers and their lazy dog. There were shelves for books and a spare room that would be either a study or a laboratory, depending upon who won that particular argument. It was warm and dry and Sherlock knew he could be happy there for the rest of his life. Or for as long as John was there with him.

Which was, actually, the same thing, of course.

*

**Author's Note:**

> Title from: The Buildings of England by Penguin Press


End file.
